GALLIUM
(Data in kilograms of gallium content, unless noted)
Domestic Production and Use: No domestic primary gallium recovery was reported in
1995. Two companies in Oklahoma and Utah recovered and refined gallium from scrap
and impure gallium metal. Imports of gallium, which supplied most of U.S. gallium
consumption, were valued at about $3.5 million. Gallium arsenide (GaAs) components
represented about 95% of domestic gallium consumption. About 65% of the gallium
consumed was used in optoelectronic devices, which include light-emitting diodes
(LED's), laser diodes, photodetectors, and solar cells. Integrated circuits
represented 33% of gallium demand, and the remainder was used in research and
development, specialty alloys, and other applications. Optoelectronic devices were
used in areas such as consumer goods, medical equipment, industrial components,
telecommunications, and aerospace applications. Integrated circuits were used in
defense applications and high-performance computers.
Salient Statistics--United States: 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995e/
Production, primarye/ -- -- -- -- --
Imports for consumption 11,300 8,480 15,600 16,900 15,500
Exports NA NA NA NA NA
Consumption: Reported 11,200 10,600 11,300 15,500 15,000
Apparent NA NA NA NA NA
Price, yearend, dollars per
kilogram, 99.99999%-pure 525 425 400 395 425
Stocks, producer, yearend NA NA NA NA NA
Employment, refinerye/ 20 20 20 20 20
Net import reliance1/ as a percent of
apparent consumption NA NA NA NA NA
Recycling: Old scrap, none. Substantial quantities of new scrap generated in the
manufacture of GaAs-based devices were reprocessed.
Import Sources (1991-94): France, 41%; Germany, 26%; Russia, 13%; United Kingdom,
4%; and other, 16%.
Tariff: Item Number Most favored nation (MFN) Non-MFN2/
12/31/95 12/31/95
Gallium metal 8112.91.1000 3.7% ad val. 25.0% ad val.
Gallium arsenide
wafers, undoped 2851.00.0010 2.8% ad val. 25.0% ad val.
Gallium arsenide
wafers, doped 3818.00.0010 Free 25.0% ad val.
Depletion Allowance: Not applicable.
Government Stockpile: None.
Prepared by Deborah A. Kramer, (703) 648-7719.
GALLIUM
Events, Trends, and Issues: One area in which intense research is being conducted is
in the production of laser diodes and LED's that emit blue light. Researchers in the
United States and Japan are committing significant resources toward producing gallium
nitride with blue light-emitting properties. As an example, the Advanced Projects
Research Agency awarded a $3.6 million contract to a consortium of private companies
to develop gallium nitride technology. Blue LED's are useful because, when combined
with green and red LED's, they enable the production of full-color displays.
Applications for blue laser diodes include high-capacity optical disk drives, higher
quality facsimile machines, submicron semiconductor device manufacturing, and medical
applications.
As one step to developing high-capacity optical switches for information processing,
U.S. researchers demonstrated a practical method for integrating high-performance,
GaAs-based optoelectronics with high-density silicon-based circuitry on a single
semiconductor chip. This type of component can be used for processing optical
signals, such as infrared light that travels along fiber optic lines, electronically.
GaAs technology, originally developed for military applications, has continued to be
adapted for commercial uses. Night-vision image intensifiers, based on GaAs, have
evolved from solely military uses to widespread applications in security, law
enforcement, and industrial low-light monitoring. Recent advances in night-vision
technology have produced modules that were specifically designed for video cameras,
allowing low- and no-light video recording capabilities for professional
photographers and videographers. In addition, defense specifications are becoming
more flexible, allowing adaptation of commercial off-the-shelf equipment to military
uses.
World Production, Reserves, and Reserve Base: Data on world production of primary
gallium were unavailable because data on the output of the few producers were
considered to be proprietary. However, in 1995, world primary production was
estimated to be about 35,000 kilograms, with Germany, Russia, and Japan as the
largest producers. Countries with smaller output were China, Hungary, Kazakstan, and
Slovakia. Refined gallium production was estimated to be about 60,000 kilograms.
France was the largest producer of refined gallium, using as feed material crude
gallium produced in Australia that had been stockpiled since 1990. Germany and Japan
were the other large gallium refining countries.
Gallium occurs in very small concentrations in many rocks and ores of other metals.
Most gallium was produced as a byproduct of treating bauxite, and the remainder was
produced from residues from zinc processing. Significant reserves of gallium also
occur in oxide minerals derived from surficial weathering of zinc-lead-copper ores.
Only part of the gallium present in bauxite and zinc ores was recoverable, and the
factors controlling the recovery were proprietary. Therefore, a meaningful estimate
of current reserves could not be made. The world bauxite reserve base is so large
that much of it will not be mined for many decades; hence, most of the gallium in the
bauxite reserve base can be considered to have only long-term availability.
World Resources: Assuming that the average content of gallium in bauxite is 50 parts
per million (ppm), U.S. bauxite resources, which are mainly subeconomic deposits,
contain approximately 15 million kilograms of gallium. About 2 million kilograms of
this metal are present in the bauxite deposits in Arkansas. Some domestic zinc ores
contain as much as 50 ppm gallium and, as such, could be a significant resource.
World resources of gallium in bauxite are estimated to exceed 1 billion kilograms,
and a considerable quantity could be present in world zinc reserves. The foregoing
estimates apply to total gallium content; only a small percentage of this metal in
bauxite and zinc ores is economically recoverable.
Substitutes: Liquid crystals made from organic compounds are used in visual displays
as substitutes for light-emitting diodes. Indium phosphide components can be
substituted for GaAs-based infrared laser diodes, and GaAs competes with helium-neon
lasers in visible laser diode applications. Silicon is the principal competitor for
GaAs in solar cell applications. Because of their enhanced properties, GaAs-based
integrated circuits are used in place of silicon in many defense-related
applications, and there are no effective substitutes for GaAs in these applications.
e/Estimated. NA Not available.
1/Defined as imports - exports + adjustments for Government and industry stock
changes.
2/See Appendix B.
Mineral Commodity Summaries, January 1996